Shadowrun Review

Since Raider asked....

Here's what I think of Shadowrun.

It's a great FPS. You can play as one of 4 races (Human, Elf, Troll, Dwarf), each with different amounts of Strength, Health, Essence (ability to use magic/tech), and Speed. You can get different weapons such as an SMG, Rifle, Rocket Launcher (very expensive), Pistol, Sniper Rifle, and Katana. You still have grenades. You can also puchase different magics/techs with $$$ you get from playing each successive round in a match. Some examples of magics are summon - summon a creature to fight for you; smoke - turn body to smoke, can't attack or be attacked, but vulnerable to Gust magic; teleport - teleports you 10 feet in direction you're moving; Healing Tree - produces a tree that heals those around it; Resurrect - bring a dead person back to life...as long as someone hasn't destroyed their corpse. You also have techs, some examples are: ?Vision? - lets you see the location of all allies/enemies within a certain distance on the map; Glider - gives you wings that let you fly a short distance; Wired Reflexes - lets you move faster and can block some bullets if using a katana and facing an enemy without attacking. There's actually not such a great variety that you'll get lost in things, but there's enough variety to keep things interesting by mixing races/magics/techs.

Here's the major downside, the single player bl0ws. It has 6 chapters you can play by yourself, to get acquainted with the four races, and the different weapons, techs, and magic. After that, you can either play against bots, or you can go online and play with others. Those 6 chapters are more like tutorials. Think Chromehounds, with even shorter tutorial matches. Actually, think Quake 3 Arena. All the action is online.

Bottom line, it's tons of fun, but at $60, it's a bit much. I have been playing a bunch with Wil and his fellow AGErs, so it's been pretty fun. So if you don't have plenty of friends to play this with, don't get it. It's a big purchase at $60. It's a lot more reasonable at $30. If it's used, pick it up. If you're picking your purchases carefully, think twice. But I'll still be playing this when I see others on with it.